YouTube vlog

When I started this blog I really had no idea where it would go. I just had a feeling that documenting my journey to success (if it actually happened) would be a good idea.

A couple of years on now (amazingly!) and I still really enjoy keeping what is basically a public diary. There have been some really good times, and if you’ve been following recently you will have seen that there have been some REALLY good times in the last few weeks.

IE, I actually got paid. We actually have money in the bank. We have happy customers. Things are going well.

I can’t ever let myself relax of course but I think I can probably give myself a gentle pat on the back because the business – well, both the businesses actually, because we started one and then started another, are doing ok and starting to pick up a bit of traction. Of course, every day is still a school day and all that, but, y’know…

But I’ve always wanted my journey to be about more than business success. I want to achieve financial freedom (actually I want to achieve a whole lot more, but that’s for a different day) and I want a number of successful businesses, but I also want to be happy, healthy and able to enjoy life. And that means I need to lose weight and get fit.

And they are two areas I am definitely NOT succeeding in.

So I started this journey aged 40-ish with some pretty well-entrenched habits about food and rewarding behaviour. I use eating as stress relief. I have a HUGE capacity for food. I could probably eat you under the table, and then I would probably eat you. I have a weakness for buying food, even if I don’t really want it, and when I’ve bought it then I eat it, because I have to. My self-control is about the same strength as a daddy-long-legs’s leg.

Plus, I sit down most of the day, I somehow have got completely out of the habit of moving, and now most of my clothes don’t fit.

Guys, this is an EMERGENCY! I really don’t want to spend another Christmas looking like a fat blob.

A few months ago I met a hypnotherapist at a networking event and it’s been at the back of my mind ever since… what if…?

And so a cunning plan was formed. I’m going to give hypnotherapy for weight loss a go.

In the meantime one thing I’ve been doing even less frequently than running has been vlogging. I started my vlog planning to post partly about business, and partly about weight loss, but it’s ended up being mostly about my weight, and lack of loss. So I decided to start it again today. I mean, if you can’t share your weight with the world who can you share it with???!!

For pretty much the asking price, meaning we will get some money to do up the property here and finally, finally, move forward.

AND…

Reason 2: I have finally reached the 11 stone bracket! (Just! – more on that later!)

AND…

Reason 3: I employed someone who I think is going to take our business to a whole new level!

The lovely Carla started as our VA (Virtual Assistant) on Wednesday and I could not take the smile off my face! She’s just fab, and the questions she was asking made me realise that with her energy and expertise we are set to fly!

So why am I not screeching with happiness?

No particular reason, really. Except that we (Dean and I) are both just exhausted.

We’ve just spent another weekend back at our old home, clearing it out ready for the sale, which completes – hopefully – next week (it was this week but the buyers pushed it back).

It is EXHAUSTING. Two hours drive each way, we’ve removed the built-in castle beds that Dean built for his boys, we’ve cleared the loft, cleared the garage… you name it, it’s been cleared.

And then there are so many little things, the things that seem to be never ending. We moved into that house in December, 2008, as a part time family of six. And although not all of Dean’s four children lived full time with us, it was a busy house. So many people coming and going, so much going on, not to mention dogs, rescued battery hens, rabbits, guinea pigs…

Dean is going back there tomorrow so meet the charity people who are picking up the dining table and chairs and the welsh dresser. And then later in the week I will make the final journey back to do the last clean, read the meters and catch the goldfish in the pond (to relocate in my cousin’s pond). And then, hopefully oh hopefully, it will all be over and we’ll have some money in the bank.

Here is my solemn promise: I will never, EVER have so much STUFF in my life again!

Granted, I’ll probably never have a family with young children again, but even so, I am living streamlined from now on. You read it here first! Too many possessions weigh you down, sitting heavy like a solid chain around your neck when you want to move on.

So in between trips to the other side of the country and working with Carla to help her get her head around our business and Xero, the online accounting system we use, there hasn’t been too much time for weight loss. But I did manage to stick to the wonderful Exante Diet for nearly three days – Monday, Tuesday and most of Wednesday (broke it with a meal of Quorn fillets and salad, followed by a hot chocolate). Thursday was a food day, Friday was 100% back on it and I weighed in on Saturday as I knew I wouldn’t be here on Sunday.

11 stone 13 lbs and three-quarters! Woohoo! I’ve done it, made it into the 11s!

Not the biggest loss, granted, but I think I am accepting by now that I probably won’t be losing the next 21 3/4 lbs in huge leaps – unless I find a sudden burst of willpower this one will limp along. But, even a limper can reach the finishing line, I just have to make sure I keep going!

We might just need to sleep for a month first, which actually would probably be great for weight loss 😉

(Here’s my latest vlog, I can’t believe how exhausted I look throughout most of it, my apologies!)

Successful people set goals.

We hear that all the time.

For some reason, I have a problem with setting goals.

Maybe it’s because I don’t feel like I’m far enough along my own journey to even have goals in sight.

Which is silly, and actually it is probably more a case of me not taking the time to sit down and set some goals.

Oh, so, I’m just being lazy! Unlike this lady, who has clearly goalled herself into total world domination:

Ok, so, I just blog-shamed myself into action.

I WILL set myself some goals. In fact, my goal is to set myself some goals before the end of this week.

Up until now, I have preferred not to set myself goals, but I have definitely recognised and celebrated when I have hit milestones.

(I can see clearly how short-sighted this is. Milestones are great, but you have to set yourself goals to work towards them. AND set a time deadline to achieve them. Ok, I have SERIOUSLY talked myself into setting goals!)

The reasons I started out in business and began this journey was to improve my own life. Coming a close second was my desire to improve the lives of others.

On the Foxy Loves Amazon page, we share some love by donating to the ASPCA every time a customer leaves a review on our Amazon product pages, such as our denim dog harnesses.

Last week we made our first donation of $100! I hope it’s the first of many, and I hope the amounts will increase as Foxy Loves grows. And I guess, although I never wrote it into a list, making the decision to donate was a goal.

It sure feels good to have achieved it!

MILESTONE TWO

Our SECOND product finally reached our Amazon store!!

I can’t tell you how excited I am! Honestly, it has been so hard to move forward, I have felt like I’ve been stuck for months. But we’ve finally got there.

The cute, paw-print fleece pet blanket is just perfect for winter. We have loved the samples we’ve been testing. They have so many uses and are a really useful addition to any pet lover’s wardrobe, so hopefully we will sell a few as gifts also.

Our next product is also on its way from China, these are truly exciting times!

MILESTONE THREE … EEEEEEeeeeekkkk!!!

I have started vlogging! Like, proper vlogging! Like, making a commitment to a vlog!

Project Life Success now has a YouTube channel. And the plan is that this blog and my YouTube vlog will go alongside each other.

Going public has been really scary and it was a big decision but at the same time something just feels right about it. If I am to share my journey in making a success of my life, changing my career and becoming my own boss, then I might as well do it properly.

So, I’m out there. Albeit in a very small way. Which is fine, because I have to say I’m not very good – yet!

But hopefully things will get better, and I might even get some YouTube followers.

I suppose I should set goals for that, too. But right now I just feel like I’m hurtling forwards on this great unknown train and literally anything could happen – and it’s hard to set goals when you’re clinging on for dear life!